F1 News
These iconic wins happened at the Spanish Grand Prix
Like all Formula 1 races, there have been some very iconic results that have occurred at the Spanish Grand Prix. It is one of the oldest F1 races in its history, which celebrated its centenary in 2013. Since 1991, it has been held in Barcelona at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. But what iconic races have played out around the iconic circuit? Here are some of the most memorable!
2012 Spanish Grand Prix
The 2012 F1 season was one of the most competitive and tumultuous seasons the sport has ever seen, with seven different drivers winning the first seven races of the season. The fifth race in that span was the 2012 edition of the Spanish Grand Prix, and it came up with one of the most surprising race winners in its history: Williams-Renault driver Pastor Maldonado.
After showing some great pace in his Williams car in free practice, Maldonado originally qualified in second behind Lewis Hamilton and ahead of Alonso in the Ferrari, but after Hamilton was forced to start from the back of the grid, it gave Maldonado his first pole position of his career, and Williams' first since the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix.
In the race, Maldonado lost the lead on the first lap to Alonso, but never let the Spaniard out of his sight, always staying within two seconds. A well-calculated strategy meant that the Venezuelan came out six seconds clear of Alonso after the second round of pitstops, and Alonso could not close the gap as he did not want to ruin his tyres. Alonso tried to close the gap later in the race, but Maldonado covered him with a third pit stop and kept his lead. Kimi Raikkonen tried an alternative strategy to catch out Maldonado and Alonso, but he could not catch the front. In the final few laps, Maldonado pulled a three-second gap, and that was the gap when he crossed the finish line, winning his first and only F1 race, as well as becoming the first Venezuelan to win a Grand Prix and record one of the biggest surprises in F1.
2013 Spanish Grand Prix
2013 may not have had a surprise winner like the year previous, but it was a winner that the home fans absolutely adored, with Fernando Alonso winning in front of the Spanish crowd and sending them all wild. And 11 years later, the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix is the latest F1 victory for the two-time World Champion.
After just missing out on the 2012 World Championship, Alonso qualified fifth around the Catalunya circuit, but he was able to surge up the field and take victory after Nico Rosberg and Hamilton faded after starting on the front row.
The set-up of the win came from a superb pass on lap one, overtaking Raikkonen and Hamilton around turn 3 and moving him up to third place. He then leapfrogged Vettel in the first round of pitstops, and it only took until lap 13 when he had the speed to catch up and pass Rosberg at turn 1 to take the lead of his home Grand Prix. The only thing that would stop Alonso from winning the race was whether he could make an extra pitstop and still beat Raikkonen, but he did so comfortably, coming out five seconds behind on lap 36, and overtaking the Finn a couple of laps later. He was unchallenged towards the line, winning for the 32nd time in his career and sending the crowd wild.
2016 Spanish Grand Prix
The Spanish Grand Prix may be the latest victory for Alonso in his career, but Catalunya has also played host to the first race victory of one of the most successful racers in F1 history in 2016. Max Verstappen took victory for the first time in his career during his first race for Red Bull, becoming the youngest-ever winner in F1 history at just 18 years of age.
After Daniil Kvyat was sacked from Red Bull after just five races, Christian Horner called up the Dutchman after a very impressive rookie season at Toro Rosso in 2015. Verstappen qualified in P4 behind the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
However, in one of the most infamous crashes in F1 history, the two Mercedes teammates collided on the opening lap, taking them both out of the race and opening it up after dominating the first four races of the season. Ricciardo led the field during the first stint, but on lap 38, Red Bull pulled the Australian in to put him on a three-stop strategy, which was calculated to be slower before the race. Verstappen then took the lead and did not look back, looking after his tyres maturely on a two-stip strategy to keep him at the front of the pack. He held off Raikkonen and a charging Ricciardo to take his first win of his career, the first of many.